On the gendered nature of mobile phone culture in Israel

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research,  April, 2005  by Dafna Lemish,  Akiba A. Cohen

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Most communication technologies, such as computers and cameras, are usually considered part of the male-dominated public sphere and are connected to both market and political forces. The rapid worldwide adoption and use of the mobile phone challenges the traditional gender boundaries and calls our attention to the possible blurring of expectations not only of gender roles, but also of other traditional constructions of dichotomies as well: behaviors in and perceptions of the public and private spheres; work and leisure, freedom and control; old and young; technology and nature. Questions related to etiquette and values concerning the use of the mobile phone bring to the forefront changes in accepted normative behaviors in public.

Mobile Phone Research

The study of the social implications of the mobile phone has recently accelerated worldwide; discussions have centered on the patterns of its diffusion and the descriptions of its use and meanings (see, e.g., Katz & Aakhus, 2002a, for an international collection of studies). Several researchers (e.g., Katz & Aakhus, 2002b) have pointed out the overall theoretical implications of the mobile phone in general. Others have focused on more specific issues, including the domestication of technology (Haddon, 2001); social interaction, intimacy, and the reconstruction of the concepts of time and space (Katriel, 1999; Kim, 2001; Persson, 2001). Adolescents, as a special target audience, have gained particular attention in several projects, mostly in Scandinavian countries (see, e.g., Johnsen, 2001; Kasesniemi & Rautianinen, 2002; Ling, 2001; Ling & Helmersen, 2000; Oksman & Rautianinen, 2002; Skog, 2002).

Some initial discussion of the methodology of studying mobile phone use has been raised as well (e.g., Cohen & Lemish, 2003). The discourse about the mobile phone concerns the familiar tension between assimilation and accommodation of new technologies in society. It questions whether the theoretical and practical issues of the adoption of the mobile phone comprise an extension of old questions regarding the adaptation of a new communication technology or whether it raises completely new questions regarding human communication and stimulates innovative theorizing and new concepts and concerns.

Mobile Phone and Gender

Theories concerning the gendered nature of technology, for example, it's impact on women's lives, their work, and their domestic environment (e.g., Cockburn, 1992; Wajcman, 1991) led us to suggest that gender differences in the use of the mobile phone could be expected. More specifically, the limited literature on the development and roles of the fixed telephone documents that sociability, i.e., using the phone for conversations with relatives and friends, was and still is the main use of the domestic phone (Fischer, 1992). Many American women, who were confined to the home in the early era of the mobile phone, used the telephone more for maintaining family and social relations than for work or service purposes (Rakow, 1988). The telephone has increased women's access to each other and to the outside world and, thus, occupies a central place for women. As Moyal (1989) suggested: "Ongoing telephone communication between female family members constitutes an important part of their support structure and contributes significantly to their sense of well-being, security, stability, and self-esteem" (p. 12).

However, within the growing body of literature on the mobile phone, little discussion has been framed within a gender perspective. One such exception is the Rakow and Navarro's (1993) study of remote-control mothering, according to which the mobile phone functions within the traditional gender division of labor. As they noted: "The cellular telephone, because it lies in that twilight area between public and private, seems to be an extension of the public world when used by men, an extension of the private world when used by women. That is, men use it to bring the public world into their personal lives. Women tend to use it to take their family lives with them wherever they go" (p. 155).

Indeed, the social analysis of technology from a feminist perspective (Cockburn, 1992; Plant, 1998; Silverstone & Hirsch, 1992; Wajcman, 1991) suggests that technology is much more than hardware--it is also a process of production and consumption, a form of knowledge, a site of gender domination as well as a power struggle. Technology, as a form of control both of nature and humans, is perceived to be deeply patriarchal. Gender relations in both the private and public spheres and those relations' characteristics shape the way technologies--including communication and leisure--are adopted and used in everyday life. Women's alienation from technologies is therefore explained not in essentialist terms but as an historical and cultural construction. Throughout these discussions there is the underlining debate between the view that technology--whether the washing machine or the computer--would liberate women in both the home and the workplace, versus the view that technologies within patriarchy are shaped and used mostly in destructive and oppressive ways for women. Both approaches advocate a technology based on women's values as well as their needs, life-styles, knowledge, and interests.